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What Is the Difference Between Hemp and Marijuana?
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Marijuana Close-up of marijuana plant (Cannabis sativa).

What Is the Difference Between Hemp and Marijuana?

Why is one more controlled than the other?
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Written by
Melissa Petruzzello
Melissa Petruzzello is Assistant Managing Editor and covers a range of content including plants, algae, and fungi; insects and spiders; and renewable energy and environmental engineering. She also handles...
Melissa Petruzzello
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Hemp and marijuana plants are usually understood to be varieties of the same species: Cannabis sativa. The term marijuana generally refers to the varieties of cannabis that are used medicinally or recreationally as a psychotropic drug, whereas hemp plants are cultivated as a source of hemp fiber and for a wide range of other derived products, including foods and beverages, cannabidiol (also known as CBD, a nonintoxicating compound oil), personal care products, and nutritional supplements. In the United States the term hemp is used in legal contexts to classify varieties of cannabis that contain 0.3 percent or less tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) by dry weight (THC being the active constituent of marijuana, which makes people feel “high”). By comparison, marijuana plants can contain 25 percent THC or more.

Melissa Petruzzello